[meteorite-list] IMCA Money Matters & my resignation

[Maria Haas]

Dear Michael and List,

I have too much respect for Art and this list to start or continue an argument so I am going to respond to this as carefully as possible. I would like to apologize to anyone in advance if I offend with this email. Please delete this email right now if you don't care to hear anymore about this. 

I would like to be perfectly clear that the Foote fundraiser had NO connection to the IMCA. That fundraiser was all me, with the guidance of one of the major donors. No funds came from the IMCA, no funds went through the IMCA, and the IMCA was not involved in any way.

That said and what I have explained below, these entire two paragraphs are ABSOLUTELY not true:

> (they also received other

> money from the IMCA and from individuals who were made aware of their

> peril by the IMCA). While expressing overwhelming and sincere gratitude to

> Those who had sent money, she told me that the IMCA treasurer had later

> contacted her and asked her to return half the money the IMCA had generated

> for them, stating only, "Other people are in need."

> 

> The timing was the worst possible as CJ had just been told by his doctors

> that Gary's life was hanging by a thread and she could loose him at any

> moment. She reports she told the IMCA treasurer that every cent had gone to

> medical costs and basic survival needs. She was then asked for a written

> accounting of how all money she received was spent. CJ told me that at that

> point her emotional state and the circumstances of life and death they were

> facing, hardly allowed for such an accounting and the conversation was

> terminated.

I asked the Footes early on how much money they needed and the three of us agreed that $3,200 was my goal. All totaled, well over twice that amount was raised and distributed to them. All but $235 of that amount was sent directly to their PayPal account and did not pass through my hands.

They had numerous times asked how they would ever repay my kindness and I always told them to help someone else someday. I am in a position to understand their being overwhelmed with so much help from strangers. I have been the recipient of so much kindness since I became disabled that I always feel I owe it to the universe to help everyone I can. Near the end of the fundraiser, another member of our community was in need of help PLUS one of the donors was upset with what the Foote's spent the money on (it was not medical, btw) PLUS there was a misunderstanding(?) about the money raised from items clearly donated to cover my shipping costs. I asked Gary and CJ for $2,000 to pass along to that next family and, well, the rest is a memory I wish I could forget. The Foote's were provided with a spreadsheet of each donation I knew about (Like I said, most of the money went to them directly). Gary was well on the mend when things went awry. I know this because I frequently spoke to him on the phone and he was writing and responding to my emails.

I know in my heart that I did the right thing getting involved but I have to say, my integrity was called into question and my feelings still haven't recovered. I conducted that next fundraiser from zero and haven't gotten involved in one since. Should the Foote's need any of the donation correspondence, PayPal receipts, their emails to me, my emails to them, any of the accounting, etc., I still have each and every bit of it. 

Michael Blood, your issue with that painting is with your painter. Not me, not Gary and CJ, not the buyer, and not the IMCA. If we were to use my calculator, 25% of nothing is still ZERO. 

Respectfully,

Maria Haas 



> Date: Thu, 19 Jul 2012 19:44:43 -0700
> From: mlblood at cox.net
> To: star_wars_collector at yahoo.com; jasonutas at gmail.com; meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com
> Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] IMCA Money Matters & my resignation
> 
> Hi Greg and all,
>         Money issues were one of the key reasons I resigned from the IMCA,
> Though my resignation was not limited to that, do PLEASE BE SURE TO
> READ "1 Addendum"
> 
> HERE ARE THE (major) REASONS: I RESIGNED FROM THE IMCA:
> 
> 1- Though many members have repeatedly asked for a financial report from the
> IMCA, members have been told, by the board, QUOTE: What is the big deal?
> Don't you trust us? UNQUOTE
> When information like this is withheld, it is easy to lose your trust.
> 
> 1- Addendum -    Shortly before the Tucson Show I was informed of actions
> which, if true, confirm and exceed  my worst misgivings about the financial
> behavior of the IMCA: I contacted Gary Foote and his wife, CJ to see if they
> had received the funds generated by the auctioning of a Jerry Armstrong
> painting. CJ told me how grateful she was for all the financial help the
> meteorite community had given them and that the buyer of the
> Jerry Armstrong painting paid them directly (they also received other
> money from the IMCA and from individuals who were made aware of their
> peril by the IMCA). While expressing overwhelming and sincere gratitude to
> Those who had sent money, she told me that the IMCA treasurer had later
> contacted her and asked her to return half the money the IMCA had generated
> for them, stating only, "Other people are in need."
> 
> The timing was the worst possible as CJ had just been told by his doctors
> that Gary's life was hanging by a thread and she could loose him at any
> moment. She reports she told the IMCA treasurer that every cent had gone to
> medical costs and basic survival needs. She was then asked for a written
> accounting of how all money she received was spent. CJ told me that at that
> point her emotional state and the circumstances of life and death they were
> facing, hardly allowed for such an accounting and the conversation was
> terminated.
> 
> When this was happening, I was still a member. As a member, money for Gary
> and his wife had been solicited by the IMCA. The request by the treasurer of
> the IMCA that half that money be returned clearly constitutes a betrayal
> of all who donated to that cause, not to mention the trauma to The Footes. I
> certainly feel betrayed. It is hard to believe any of the members of the
> IMCA who donated to this cause would find this acceptable.
> 
> 
> 2-    The IMCA has involved itself in disputes between dealers. Several
> dealers have chosen to resign rather than have the IMCA used to leveraged in
> their personal transactions with other dealers. This was a major factor for
> me, but definitely far from the only factor in my Resigning.
> 
> 3- The IMCA has recently taken it upon themselves to condemn people dealing
> in meteorites from countries that prohibit exportation - in spite of the
> fact that I have been told by several people I trust that one prominent
> Board Member was openly offering Burduc at the Tucson Show and another had
> been personally involved in exporting Burduc.
> 
> 4-    When someone does resign, the remaining dealer is free to state their
> position and make any accusations they please. The resigned dealer is not
> even allowed to know what was said about him. (I was told by a good friend
> it is against the rules to foreword any IMCA post to a non-member). I know
> of several dealers who have been ejected or resigned rather than be
> subjected to the hypocrisy of IMCA power brokers - and all but one were
> over issues NOT having anything to do with authenticity.
> 
> 5-     I recommended Michael Gilmer for membership as he is a fine, open
> hearted & genuinely good guy - The IMCA refused to accept Michael Gilmer
> as a member though he had done nothing wrong, stating he, QUOTE: "has
> not been around long enough." Is there a defined waiting period for
> acceptance? I doubt that if he was a collector and not a dealer this would
> have been the decision. I believe Board members - who act in secret, weild
> Power with NO input from the membership have increasingly moved toward
> A position of "competition control" regarding dealers, targeting specific
> dealers with whom they have personal issues.
> 
> I will miss the camaraderie of the IMCA dinner at the Tucson show. That,
> unfortunately, is just about all I ever benefited from by being a member.
> Since the board apparently rules with accountability to no one, and refuses
> make at least a yearly full financial disclosure to all members, I see
> little point in being a part of the organization.
> 
> The IMCA was ORIGINALLY created for one specific purpose: To insure
> authenticity of material being sold. Unfortunately it has become an
> organization run almost exclusively by dealers and has been used against
> other dealers. It has NO financial accountability whatsoever and is run by a
> board that answers to NO ONE.
> 
> My wife tells me I am the most naive person she ever met. I tend to think of
> myself as thinking the best of people until they prove me wrong.
> Unfortunately, I believe I have been proven wrong in the case of the IMCA. I
> now join Bob Haag, E. T., Mike Farmer, Blaine Reed, Matt Morgan and a of
> growing number of other honest, long time dealers who have declined
> membership in this organization or who have resigned.
> 
> Sincerely, Michael
> 
> 
> On 7/19/12 7:11 PM, "Met. Greg Catterton" <star_wars_collector at yahoo.com>
> wrote:
> 
> > 
> Jason, I was "going after" the IMCA while I was still a 
> member and was
> > running for a spot on the board two elections ago. This 
> is all in the
> > archives unless the purged it to cover up the activities 
> they are doing. 
> > They still wont account for where all the money they 
> get in member dues has
> > went, why the non profit status was revoked in 
> 2008, who Daniel K. Cathcart
> > is (the one time owner) Anyone know him? 
> Who the current owner is (Adam
> > Hupe?) how and why he came to own it... 
> 
> 
> As a member of the IMCA, I lost a
> > lot of faith in the group for the lack 
> of answers to questions many had. Not
> > just me. I was just the most 
> outspoken about it. I even went to say that if I
> > was not elected, I 
> would be kicked out of the group within months for what I
> > was pressing 
> them to answer and the fact they would not. I and MANY other
> > members asked for 
> budget info for years. They would NOT release it.
> 
> 
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